To make things clear, I am not saying the M’sian government is blameless, I am saying that we, the Malaysian Chinese people, have been unfairly maligned by China’s Internet users.

To make things clear, we have no say in how the search and rescue for MH370 is conducted. We don’t even have much say in our own education system. And yet here we have a Facebook user who proclaimed himself as the representative of a group of ‘angry Chinese people’ who wants us, the Malaysian Chinese to stop using Chinese in our daily life as it will not make us ‘China’s Chinese’ even if we use it. Stupid. Language is a communication tool. The Chinese language is our mother tongue and central to our culture brought to Malaysia by our ancestors who were originally from China mainland. We are Malaysian Chinese, citizens of Malaysia. To study Chinese is not to become a citizen of China, but to respect and continue our rich heritage. It is also a form of respect for our ancestors. They tried hard to preserve the culture and we respect that.

Chinese culture is generally a gentle culture. It places great importance in kindness and education. The actions and behaviour of China’s Internet users belied that culture, being rude and ignorant, not to mention cruel. Indeed, the words of some of said users show that they are completely ignorant of modern history where many of their countrymen migrated after the war.

Further, the antics of some of the so called celebrities have shown that they could not be trusted to give constructive suggestions. Instead of using the media platform to instigate a boycott against Malaysian products, why not use their not inconsiderable influence to raise help for the victims’ relatives and the search? Instead, they called for a boycott which will only hurt the poorer people in the country without any real effects upon the leaders. These calls are useless and seems as thought they are merely a publicity stunt.

Language is not the property of a sole country. One cannot say because you are not a citizen of that country you are stopped from using it. Indeed, if that is the case, global trade will not happen and the Chinese economy would not have grown so fast without a lingua franca. In addition, as near as three generations back, our ancestors are citizens of China who emigrated due to economic reasons. So don’t tell us that we can’t use the Chinese language as it belongs to us as much as it belongs to you!

Right now, I am unduly grateful that my law course is an external degree and that I will not have to leave Malaysia in the near future for continuation of my education. The way the Malaysian authorities are going about the rescue operation of MH370 is embarrassing as hell. A shaman? More like a SHAM! And all that confusion over the location of the plane. It is a real fiasco.

We here still pray for the reappearance of MH370 with all passengers and crew safe. Hope is eternal. Wherever you are, MH370 and you passengers, stay strong and hopeful.